The Obama administration said Friday that it is giving federal agencies more time to assess a proposed trans-national pipeline, likely keeping a decision about the controversial Keystone XL project from being made anytime soon.

Both the Associated Press and Reuters reported that the decision
to further delay any announcement about the project is expected
to keep the Keystone pipeline’s future uncertain until after
November, when several United States government positions will go
up for grabs at mid-term elections.

The news came on Friday courtesy of the US Department of State,
which has jurisdiction over the decision because the 1,200-mile
pipeline, if completed, will cross America’s international
boundary with Canada.

If the project is approved, the pipeline is expected to transport
crude tar sands from Canada down towards the Gulf of Mexico.
Environmentalists and other activists have largely opposed
construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, however, while
President Barack Obama has been criticized by opponents for not
already approving a project that’s expected to create thousands
of new jobs.

In the midst of a years-long debate, the State Dept. said that
more time is required so that the agencies involved can
sufficiently analyze the trove of submitted comments and evidence
and make the best decision possible. So far, the project has been
waiting on a permit from US officials for five years.

“On April 18, 2014, the Department of State notified the
eight federal agencies specified in Executive Order 13337 we will
provide more time for the submission of their views on the
proposed Keystone Pipeline Project,” the department said in
a statement. “Agencies need additional time based on the
uncertainty created by the on-going litigation in the Nebraska
Supreme Court which could ultimately affect the pipeline route in
that state. In addition, during this time we will review and
appropriately consider the unprecedented number of new public
comments, approximately 2.5 million, received during the public
comment period that closed on March 7, 2014.”

The court ruling cited by the State Dept. was made this past
February in the District Court of Lancaster County, where Judge
Stephanie Stacy said that the governor’s decision to let the $5.4
billion pipeline pass through Nebraska was "unconstitutional
and void."

"The Permit process will conclude once factors that have a
significant impact on determining the national interest of the
proposed project have been evaluated and appropriately reflected
in the decision documents," the State Department said on
Friday.

The latest news comes only weeks after a group of 11 democratic
senators wrote the White House urging Pres. Obama to make a final
decision by May 31. Now just six weeks away, that deadline is
believed to be all but impossible to meet.

“It is crystal clear that the Obama administration is simply
not serious about American energy and American jobs,” Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said in a statement
on Friday. “I guess he wasn’t serious about having a pen and
a phone, either. At a time of high unemployment in the Obama
economy, it’s a shame that the administration has delayed the
construction of the Keystone XL pipeline for years. Here’s the
single greatest shovel-ready project in America – one that could
create thousands of jobs right away – but the president simply
isn’t interested.”

“Apparently radical activists carry more weight than
Americans desperate to get back on the job,” added
McConnell. "More jobs left behind in the Obama economy.”